Jourdan Dunn Lands All-Black Italian Vogue Cover

The rumors about an all-black issue of Italian Vogue are true! And its cover girl could be none other than 17-year-old rising star Jourdan Dunn. We’re not surprised Dunn landed the issue, considering she was the first black model to walk Prada this past Fashion Week in Milan since Naomi Campbell in 1997. Steven Meisel shot the entire issue with zero white models, in hopes the move will encourage other magazines to diversify. Let’s hope designers like Miuccia Prada will notice and, you know, expand the castings beyond Dunn. (Seriously, Miu — eleven years?! Ridic.) Landing Prada isn’t the only thing Dunn has in common with Campbell. British Vogue notes: Naomi Campbell has always been outspoken about racism in fashion and 17-year-old Dunn, who was famously scouted in the Hammersmith branch of Primark in London, recently added her voice to the debate.
“London’s not a white city so why should all our castings be white? I go to castings and see several black and Asian girls, then I get to the show and look around and there’s just me and maybe one other coloured face,” she told the Evening Standard. “They just don’t get picked. I hope it’s because the designer just didn’t think they were good enough as a model but I don’t know.”

She’s gorgeous. Stephanie, thanks for posting. I may either peruse or buy the issue. Occasionally yes, I’ll pay ten bucks for a foreign fashion mag. LOL. Brownee in the other post stated that this could be a publicity stunt. Es posible, still, it’s good to see a sister on the cover and in the main spread(s). 🙂

Kanyade, yes it’s still good to see them, I hope this is just the beginning. Like Stephanie said, I remember a time, ’90s, where I could list about ten black Supermodels w/o trying. Plus there were others, who though weren’t “supermodel” status worked continuously.

It’s a sad day in the fashion world when hardly any of the designers use any models of color. There was a time when any Black women who aspired to be a model, had to go to Europe and make her mark there because in America they were either being discriminated against or not being considered for the shows at all, or with either one or two token models used much like what’s going on today.

In my day we had Mounia, Katoucha, Pat Cleveland, Iman, Alva Chinn, Roshumba Williams, Veronica Webb, Beverly Peele, Naomi Sims, Grace Jones, Billie Blair, Bethann Harrison , Gay Thomas, Norma J. Darden, Karen Alexander, and yes Naomi Campbell, & Kimmora L. Simmons and a host of other Black Models who not only rocked the runway, they ruled the runway by making the show dazzling. They could be found in any major European fashion magazine and hardly on the pages of some of the American fashion magazines. These women inspired young Black girls to know that they too were beautiful and worthy of praise and admiration. They constantly stole the show and had several wealthy women go out and spend their money on the designers. These models were the show, they had a walk like no one else could do but them. They definitely were more than the clothes hangers we have today, they brought those clothes to life and they had the style (and still do) and class to pull it off.

Our beauty was celebrated, today it’s being practically ignored, not only by the mainstream media but by our very own who are not showing the diversity of skin tones of the Black woman. So many have adopted the doctrine of the Anglo aesthetic of beauty and presenting it as the ideal standard of beauty, shunning the darker skin beauties. Why should we spend billions of our dollars on clothes when they don‘t even include women who look like many of us in their advertisements, magazines and fashion shows? Sometimes we must make a conscious effort to make a bold statement and start with holding our money, especially when we and our money are constantly being disrespected. Have we failed to read between the lines or are we just ignoring the fact that the actions of the designers are speaking louder than words? Congratulations on a great cover!

She’s very pretty, and good for her. She would be one of the few. One of my real peeves, to the point where I don’t even like watching Fashion shows or looking through the collection anymore, is how much the fashion industry ignores black models, or hell, ethnic models period. There is no excuse for it, and it’s an obvious discrimination on behalf of both the agencies and the designers who both cry the same excuses they always do. Agencies say designers don’t want black models. Designers say agencies don’t bring them. Terrible.

Whether it’s a publicity stunt or not, it’s needed and I’m glad to see it happen. If I can find this issue somewhere in this sorry state I live in, I’ll be sure to buy it. It’ll be the only time I don’t have to play a version of “Where’s Waldo” with a fashion mag.

Ive never posted here and only have been a lurker but I had to agree with Daniel. We are always screaming for diversity and the black stars that have crossed over like Tyra Banks makes it seem like its the end all be all to be seen as beautiful by the white masses or that being the first black model on the cover of sports illustrated means something. Im not saying it doesn’t mean anything but what is wrong with just being on the cover of black magazines. Why do white people have to see us as beautiful for us to feel that way. Why do dark skin sistas have to be featured in music videos so that everyone can feel beautiful? People that complain really need to start their OWN thing and promote and feature who they feel needs to be promoted and seen more. So if a black model is only hired by urban designers, she should feel like she hasnt made it to the top? Why does she have to be the first black model on the cover of a white magazine in order to feel like she’s made it? I know the “white” magazines sell to the masses but is it always just about money though?

That article doesn’t say that she will be on the cover only that she might be.

Also, Vogue doesn’t bill itself as a “White” magazine though their editorials might have some people believing that. It is, for all intents and purposes, the fashion bible.

Black people are involved in every aspect of fashion from design and constructions, to modeling, photography, makeup, editing, starting trends and of course consuming it. The issue isn’t as cut and dried as “stop complaining and start your own magazine” because we’ve seen that when that does happen (like with Suede) advertisers don’t want to buy ads, designers don’t want to lend clothes, publishers don’t want to spend the money needed to establish it and many consumers (too used to the same old crap every month in Essence) gripe about the high price of items in the magazine and how bougie it is. It’s not about “begging” to be in someone’s magazine, it’s about the magazine opening it’s eyes to the fact that black people have a hand (and wallet) in their industry too.